Florian ferguson



(No Model.) r F. FERGUSON.

' LAMPLIGHTER.

No. 522,462. Patented July 3, 1894.

Fig-4 0.. WASH NITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

FLORIAH FERGUSON, OF SEATTLE, WYASHINGTON.

LAM PLIGHTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,462, dated July 3,1894. Application filedMarch 3, 1893. Serial No. 464,557. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FLORIAN FERGUSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Seat tle, in the county of King and State of Washmgton, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamplighters;and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to lighting mechanisms for lamps and consistsessentially of a rotatable circular ring placed in juxtaposition to thelamp wick, and'carrying a ring of ring point which bears friction caps,and a fixed scratcher or ignitupon the ring of caps and ignites them asthey are rotated by it.

In the drawings Figure 1 shows a central sectional elevation of acentral draft, circular wick burner of the class such as those knownunder the trade names of Rochester, Pittsburgh, Bradley & Hubbard, &c.Fig. 2 is atop plan view,of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly insection of a common flat wick burner, showing the way of applying mylighter to this class of burners. Fig. 4- is atop plan View of the samewith the cap removed. Fig. 5, is a view showing a slightly differentmanner of placing the ring which carries the caps.

Similar letters ofreference refer to similar parts in the variousfigures.

In'the burner shown inFigs. 1 and 2, A, represents the central drafttube, B, the annular space occupied by the wick, and C, the outer draftchamber immediately surrounding the wick and receiving its air throughthe perforations in its outer wall D. These points are common to all ofthis class of burners although the details of construction vary in each.

The upper portion or top of the outside air chamber 0, has its loweredge at E, beaded over the upper edge of the lower portion D, butloosely so that it may .turn thereon. This rotatable ring E, has theflange E located on or about the level of the wick. This flange isadapted to hold a ring F, of paste board or other suitable materialwhich contains on its inner surface a number of. friction caps G. 1

Attached to a non d ctating part of the burner, eitheras shown in fulllines at H, Fig. 1, or as shown in dotted lines at H, isaspringscratcher or igniter having its point pressing upon the inner surface ofthe ring F, which carries the friction caps. I

When the ring E, is rotated the caps will be rotated under this pointand the friction produced thereby will ignite them and the flame willleap across the space separating them from the wick and light the lamp.The draft of air passing up between the caps and the wick is sufficientto prevent their being ignited by the heat of the flame.

The ring F, is large enough to accommodate a large number of caps andthe lamp may be lighted as many times as there are caps on the ring.When the caps have all been used up the ring may be removed and a freshone put in its place. The cost of these caps is nominal, being less thanthat of matches and moreover the bother of get-' ting rid of the burnedmatches is obviated. Where a lamp has a globe and a fancy shade it issometimes a great deal of bother to have to remove these to light thelamp with a match and then have to replace them. With my invention it isnot necessary to remove anything, a simple slight turn of. the rim E,sufficing to light the lamp.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a burner having the holder for the ring of capsF, inaslightly difierent position. It is dropped below the level of thewick and made of a conical form so that the caps face upward toward thewick. This cuts off the light a little less than does the other form andalso makes it easier to examine the ring to see how many caps are leftso that it may be renewed before it is completely exhausted. Figs. 3 and4 show my invention applied to an ordinary flat wick burner. In Fig. 3,D, represents a sheet of perforated metal or gauze which supports therotating piece E, which carries the caps in a similar manner to thatshown in Fig. 1.

The scratcher or igniter H, is attached to the side ofthe wick tube. Thecap M, is

fixed upon the upright pins L, which are supported by the gage D, andprevent the cap from rotating with the ring E and permit its removal torenew the ring of caps. Obvious mechanical-changes may be made in thedetails without departing from the essential features of my invention.

To light the lamp the piece E, is grasped by its outer rim and rotatedsuiiiciently to bring one of the caps under the igniter H. The frictioncaused by this ignites the cap and the flame leaps across the spacebetween and ignites the wick.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a lamp burner, the combination with the wick tube, of an externalrotatable ring surrounding said tube and adapted to be grasped by thehand to rotate itand provided with a flange forming a support to holdthe friction match material in position with its face toward and at adistance from the wick,

and means for igniting the friction 1natch,

substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a lamp burner, the combination with the wick tube, of a flangeforming asupport to hold a friction match material in position with itsface toward and at a distance from and surrounding the wick tube, anigniter for said friction match material, one of said

